Face-to-face: Simon Cook, country manager, UK & Ireland, Oman Air
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Why did the role at Oman Air appeal to you and now you’ve been in the role nearly two months, what do you believe are the airline’s top qualities?
The prospect of working with an airline that offers genuinely excellent products and services, and whose reputation continues to climb, was very attractive. Add in the opportunity to further build Oman Air’s presence within the UK and the role becomes irresistible. I was obviously aware before of Oman Air’s record of offering award-winning hospitality, products and services. However, since I started my role as country manager for the UK and Ireland it has become even clearer that the airline’s emphasis on offering authentic Omani hospitality alongside the highest standards in every aspect of its passenger experience make it a unique and exciting proposition.
What are your key objectives for the airline’s UK strategy?
Oman Air is the only airline to offer direct services from the UK to Oman. Our daily flight from Heathrow to Muscat has experienced continuous year-on-year growth since it was launched in 2007, but until every seat on every flight is sold there will always be more we can do. So in addition to promoting Oman Air direct to UK and Irish consumers, we want to encourage more business travel and strengthen our relationships with tour operators. In addition, Oman Air is currently engaged in an ambitious expansion programme. That means that the range of destinations that we offer beyond Muscat – such as Bangkok, Singapore, Kathmandu, the Maldives and 11 destinations in India – is growing and UK air travellers’ options are increasing. Over the coming months, we will be announcing some exciting new routes and by the end of the year we expect to be flying to around 50 destinations in total. In addition, we want to consolidate a number of our niche routes by increasing their frequencies to daily. We aim to ensure that visitors to Oman and onward destinations consider Oman Air as their first choice airline.
How is Oman Air’s London-Muscat route performing and what factors are driving demand?
Our London-Muscat route is performing extremely well and we expect to sell out completely during peak travel months. Our load factors throughout the year are well beyond the industry average. There are three factors driving that demand. Firstly, Oman has strong and long-established links with the UK. As a result, there are many regular business and leisure travellers flying between the two countries throughout the year. Secondly, awareness within the UK of Oman as a tourist destination has increased steadily in recent years. UK citizens still represent the largest group of visitors to Oman and – thanks to the campaigns run by Oman Air and the Ministry of Tourism – numbers are increasing every year. Thirdly, Oman Air has a well-justified reputation for the space and comfort it offers, together with award-winning staff service. Our seats, service, inflight catering and onboard connectivity have each won many awards and our customers recognise the high-quality of our passenger experience.
With Oman Air expanding its fleet, what is the case for expanding the carrier’s UK presence? Any Heathrow slot or perhaps another UK London or regional airport?
Such is the demand for Oman Air’s flights that a second daily service from Heathrow would be warmly welcomed. We are currently looking at opportunities and hope to launch a second service from Heathrow as soon as possible.
How do you intend to improve brand awareness amongst trade and consumers?
We will continue to advertise in targeted consumer-facing publications, both in print and online, as well as utilising environmental sites. In recent years, we have advertised on the Tube, in London, and have ‘wrapped’ a series of black cabs in adverts for Oman Air and its destinations. Advertising will be backed up by concerted PR and marketing campaigns, including offers and promotions which will offer outstanding value for consumers.
Raising awareness amongst the trade will include extending our training programme to include more agents and operators. We will soon be launching our ‘Lunch and Learn’ training programme, and we will have a strong presence at trade events and roadshows, which have often been run in partnership with Oman’s Ministry of Tourism. We will also continue to operate familiarisation trips not only to Oman, but also to some of the UK market’s – and Oman Air’s – most popular destinations, as well as those that are up-and-coming. These may include well-known destinations such as the Maldives, as well as rising stars such as Zanzibar.
How important is the UK travel trade as a distribution channel for Oman Air and what’s your UK trade strategy going forward?
The UK travel trade is vital for Oman Air’s continuing success. We have built strong relationships with many travel agents and tour operators over the years, but we are not about to rest on our laurels. We want to do more for our existing partners, and we want to create strong new partnerships with the trade as we move forward.
The possibility of a second daily service from London to Muscat will provide a focus for this, but whatever the future holds, we are committed to working closely with the trade. Together, we can not only spread awareness amongst consumers of Oman Air’s superb passenger experience and competitive fares, but also give more people the opportunity to discover Oman as a truly world-class leisure destination.
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